Roll Over, Aibo: Meet S.Korea's Robot Dog Fri Apr 28, 10:28 AM ET

Roll Over, Aibo: Meet S.Korea's Robot Dog Fri Apr 28, 10:28 AM ET
 


SEOUL, South Korea - Roll over, Aibo, there's a new robot dog in
town. A South Korean company is stepping into to the gap left by
Sony's decision to end production of its mechanized canine Aibo with
a new robot hound that can recognize spoken commands and act as a
watchdog with a camera built into its snout.

DasaTech, based in Bucheon in eastern Seoul, said it plans to put its
robot — named the "Genibo" for "genius robot" — on the market next
year for an as-yet-unspecified price, according to company official
Cho Soo-hyun.

The Genibo, which stands a foot tall and weighs 3.3 pounds,
understands 100 commands, including "sit," "roll over" and "wag
tail." The company says it can navigate around obstacles by itself.

Japan's Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). said earlier this year it was
killing off the Aibo robot project to cut costs. It had sold some
150,000 Aibos since they debuted in 1999 and sparked a strong
following among fans — some of whom owned whole packs of the machines
that retailed for about $2,000.

Aibo also could recognize voices and the face of its owner.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060428/ap_on_hi_te/skorea_robot_dog_1